"SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT"
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
LIVE
KEY ARENA, SEATTLE, WA
AND
TWITTER LIVE STREAMING
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS:
Jimmy Chamberlin: Drums, Ukelele
Billy Corgan: Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Keyboards
James Iha: Guitars, Vocals
Jeff Schroeder: Guitars
with
Jack Bates: Bass Guitar
Katie Cole: Piano, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals
Linda Strawberry: Creative Director
AUGUST 24, 2018
I now have a Twitter account.
For most of you, this admission may not seem to be terribly significant whatsoever. But, in order for you to really fathom the significance, I should inform you of a few things regarding my life. I do not own a smart phone as I still own a flip phone. If a television program is exclusive to streaming services, I'll never see them. My presence on social media is essentially limited to my Facebook pages, this blogsite (and its sister site
Savage Cinema), an Instagram page that carries not one photo by me (as I do not own that aforementioned smartphone), a rarely visited Goodreads page...and now, Twitter.
I have never possessed s desire to join this arena of the social media landscape and frankly, as years have passed, my desire has only decreased due to a lack of interest and need to join the fray, such as it is. So...now knowing all of this, I am certain that you are now wondering just why oh why I would ever join if I had not before the night of Friday, August 24, 2018. I'll happily tell you why...
The Smashing Pumpkins.
Honestly, it would have to take something extremely special to inspire me to actually join a social media network that I never possessed any interest within. Nonetheless, for The Smashing Pumpkins, one of my most favorite bands for nearly 30 years (it still feels like yesterday), I needed to make this particular leap.
The reason was entirely as a means to see one stop of the band's current "Shiny And Oh So Bright" tour, a celebration of the band's 30 year existence and most importantly, the full reunion of nearly the entire original band as both
drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and
guitarist/singer/songwriter/co-founder James Iha have returned to the fold as full-fledged bandmates alongside "The Pumpkin King" himself,
co-founder/singer/songwriter/guitarist Billy Corgan, for the first time since the band's original dissolve in
2000.
In rock and roll, the prospect of bands breaking up and re-forming is as common as the songs themselves yet in the case of The Smashing Pumpkins, this was a band where I truly felt that the bridges had been burned beyond all recognition, making any potential reunions non-existent. As a fan, I had made my peace with that possibility, and for so many years, a reality.
Even during the years of the first re-formation featuring Corgan, Chamberlin, the introduction of
guitarist Jeff Schroeder (who the fan community has since given the affectionate nickname "The Shredder" due to his exemplary guitar heroics) and a revolving door of first class musicians including
bassist/singer Nicole Fiorentino, drummer Mike Byrne, bassist Ginger Reyes and even
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, I refused to echo the sentiments of sections of the fan community who continuously kept that heartbeat for the return of Iha and
original Pumpkins bassist D'arcy Wretsky thumping as my feelings were quite simple:
The four original members of The Smashing Pumpkins are human beings first, bandmates second and to me, it made no sense whatsoever for these four human beings to get together and tour the world in misery just to fulfill the nostalgic dreams and wishes of their fan base. If something were to happen, then it had to be right. It had to be true. Some serious healing had to happen, as far as I was concerned. But I wasn't counting on it.
And then...it happened.
The sight of witnessing Billy Corgan and James Iha together again was truly something I NEVER thought that I would see again, yet when Iha surprisingly walked out on stage during a stop on the Smashing Pumpkins'
"In Plainsong" tour in 2016, I performed double takes at the You Tube fan footage to ensure that I wasn't regarding special effects wizardry but something real. And when I fully understood what was happening, tears spontaneously jumped to my eyes. It was not just because of the glorious music performed with gentle passion but of the level and depth of forgiveness that must have occurred between these two men in order for a moment like this to happen at all.
Flash forward to the present as The Smashing Pumpkins, night after night, have more than delivered the goods, elating longtime fans and even proving their harshest critics wrong (and I would gather even those grudging cynics who still want to count the band out), with a concert experience that has garnered some of their highest praises. A concert that I would unfortunately not have the chance to see...
After these past ten years or so of The Smashing Pumpkins' reformation, which began in 2007, the "Shiny And Oh So Bright" tour represents a simultaneous continuation and conceptual re-set. With James Iha's return combined with the continued presence of Jeff Schroeder plus Billy Corgan, the band now possesses an unprecedented three guitar configuration, which allows them to replicate the heavily multi-layered guitars of their studio work more faithfully within a live setting.
Additionally, the tour, while serving as a celebration of the band's entirety, musically focuses solely on the band's first five albums,
"Gish" (released May 28, 1991), "Siamese Dream" (released July 27, 1993), the monumental double album
"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" (released October 24, 1995), "Adore" (released June 2, 1998) and
"MACHINA/The Machines of God" (released February 29, 2000) plus all manner of B-sides and rarities from this particular era, all of which was the work created and performed by the original members now reunited (with the exception D'Arcy Wretsky).
As for me, I have never seen The Smashing Pumpkins live before. Yes, I have seen copious amounts of footage over the years but I have never had the opportunity to attend a show in person and the way life was panning out this summer, I would be unable to see them yet again--therefore limiting myself to the words of friends who would be able to attend, plus watching some striking fan footage on You Tube.
That is until Twitter.
Without question, there is NOTHING like the experience of actually being within the same room as the band and the sea of people in attendance as it contains its own unique energy which creates the overall event. But with the band's tour stop at the Key Arena in Seattle, Live Nation and Twitter joined forces to bring fans what would be the next best thing to being there...and for free at that! I would have been a fool to miss out, so I joined Twitter to have my chance to see and hear the full experience, which Corgan has expressed is unlike anything the band has attempted in the past and what Iha has referred to in behind-the-scenes tour footage as a "journey of the mind."
The "Shiny And Oh So Bright" concert opens with the image of a sea of stars set against a black, night sky. With soft, introductory music as our sonic guide, we are first greeted by a cartoon image of the ice cream truck from the band's "Today" music video, which is then followed by re-contextualized imagery from the band's aforementioned first five albums combined with animations conveying both whimsy and menace.
The prologue culminates with the arrival of the girls from the "Siamese Dream" album cover, now adults and brandishing a blowtorch setting the classic Smashing Pumpkins' heart logo aflame. The arena goes black until the walls slowly part revealing blinding white lights from which emerges Billy Corgan, in full rock star super anti-hero mode. Adorned with grim eye makeup, Gothic skirt, a black top with the number 0 on the back and massive black boots making his already 6 ft plus frame extend even higher, Corgan, also cradling an acoustic guitar, surveys the crowd silently, until he begins to strum the first cords of the now iconic track, "Disarm."
With this song, nerve endings fully exposed, Corgan's powerful voice and augmented with visual footage of Corgan as a child yet decorated with jagged lettered words like "Broken Boy," I was instantly transported emotionally. Yet decidedly and remarkably not through any lens of nostalgia. While this is a song from the past about the past, the delivery and presentation made everything about "Disarm" feel to be up to the minute, as if Corgan was revealing something completely new about himself to us even as we all know every word.
It was a miraculous beginning, as the past and the present connected at this specific moment in time and here we were, all experiencing it together, musing over who we once were and who we have become, ultimately realizing that this song, those lyrics and this voice all represented an everlasting now as we are always reckoning with the past while we continuously attempt to redefine ourselves.
A journey of the mind, as well as the soul, indeed.
Shortly afterwards, the full band-
-guitarists James Iha and Jeff Schroeder, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin with
bassist Jack Bates (son of ex-Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook) and
pianist/guitarist/singer Katie Cole--emerged on stage and over the course of 31 songs within a whopping three hours and fifteen minutes, The Smashing Pumpkins elicited a performance that was by turns dazzling, spectacular, poignant, mournful, enlivening, euphoric, surprisingly affectionate and even symphonic and cinematic in vision and execution.
In terms of the music, I can easily express to you that I have never heard this band, in any of its previous incarnations, sound as tight and as focused as they were on this night (and the tour, overall). It was as if they approached this evening, and the tour as a whole, as something to prove and not as any sort of a victory lap--which is possibly how Billy Corgan, the professional wrestling fan, may have even desired it. "Just try to discredit us," he may be saying. "We're about to blow your mind!"
My mind was certainly blown apart by the wide breadth of material that Corgan has written as well as the sheer agility, dexterity and top tier professionalism and undeniable energy that the entire band exhibited while performing. The songs were all there. The hits and the deep cuts (
"Today," "Cherub Rock," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Rocket," "Hummer"). The vortex psychedelia (
"Rhinoceros," "Drown"). The crystalline ballads (
"Try, Try, Try"). The glistening pop and the pummeling art-metal (
"Tonight, Tonight," "1979," "The Everlasting Gaze," "Zero"). The dark dream electronica (
"Ava Adore," "Eye," "The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning"). Starling covers (
Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" and yes, it's true, they are playing
Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and it is majestic in its faithfulness). And the band's blistering new single
"Solara," which has already evolved into an even better song, showcased individual band members' strengths, due to their continuous performances of it each night.
The music of evening, presented with no intermissions, functioned as a fully orchestrated composition all divided into distinct movements, all the while presenting different shadings of the band while taking the audience through all of the peaks and valleys of their odyssey, and the effect was titanic in scope and performance.
Jimmy Chamberlin remains unquestionably the greatest rock drummer of his generation as he illustrates a MASTER CLASS of focus, technique, skill, invention, force, flair and a blinding musicality. He is thrilling to behold.
Touring members Jack Bates and Katie Cole are impeccable. For Bates, to step into these enormous rhythmic shoes, creating a foundation with Chamberlin, as well as honoring what Corgan and D'Arcy Wretsky originally created in the studio and on stage, while also carving out his own presence must have been daunting to say the least. And there he is, stoic yet fluid, unobtrusive yet ever present, reverential yet seemingly effortless. He is in full lockstep, never once taking his eyes off of the prize.
Katie Cole, provides a superior warmth that works beautifully in collaboration, as well as a counterpoint to the heaviness surrounding her. Her rich vocals work exquisitely with Corgan's and when she steps out, complete with acoustic guitar to duet with James Iha on his Pumpkins' B-side chestnut
"Blew Away," it made me long for a full length or even an EP of Cole/Iha duets. Just sublime.
And now, I turn to the grand return of James Iha and to see him again, in the precise place that I figured I would never see him, felt so absolutely right!! His presence, complete with his trademark wryness, also worked beautifully as a counterpoint to Corgan's intensity. But furthermore, it was clear that Iha was enjoying himself, and in turn, it was evident that Corgan and Chamberlin were thrilled to be working and playing together again, as witnessed through knowing looks and smiles, as well as an elevated commitment to each other and the music and legacy they created.
Jimmy Chamberlin has remarked recently that perhaps now that all three men are in their 50's and are also now Fathers, perhaps they are now all mature enough to be in The Smashing Pumpkins now. To that end, there was just something to the high level of their performances that seemed to dictate that maybe all three men are old enough to even be playing this music they created when they were much younger men. Iha, especially seemed locked in tighter than I have ever seen him in the past, even
singing better live than I have heard him with a clearer, stronger, more tuneful voice--the very type I hear upon his lovely solo albums.
As a guitarist, I have always been saddened at the short shrift James Iha has received over the years and I am hoping that what he has displayed upon this tour, and especially on this night, proves his critics completely wrong once and for all. Iha's six string prowess is fully worthy of the highest praise as he displayed an ability to blast out the monster riffs plus provide the elegant textures that are his signature and allow the songs to take on greater musical colors and dimensions. And still, he can bring the heat, as his outro solo on the band's triumphant cover of
David Bowie's "Space Oddity" unleashes some stellar cosmic shooting stars.
James Iha was as outstanding as he was deeply missed during his time away. Here's hoping that he remains after such a wonderful welcome back.
I would be remiss if I did not shine some of my personal spotlight upon Jeff Schroeder at this time, especially as he has more than earned his Pumpkin stripes during his tenure in the band over the last 12 years. Schroeder's guitar work is nothing less than extraordinary and it thrilled me to see that he would remain in the band even with Iha's return and that decision, as witnessed within this performance, has proven itself to being a masterstroke. The new dynamics created between himself and Iha are masterful and downright inspired, especially during the classic "Stairway To Heaven" finale as well as the guitar waterfalls contained in "Drown" and at their most jaw dropping within the mighty
"Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans."
Schroeder, whose guitar work is nimble, angular, enveloping, dive bombing while also possessing the ability to set off searing sparks with his personalized streaks of white lightning, gives the band an opportunity to honor their past more faithfully in the live setting while also pointing to the potential of new soundscapes to arrive in future music with this new three guitar lineup. As it stands, the band's performance of
"Siva," which is presented in an extended arrangement, is astonishing as Schroeder and Corgan trade face melting solos at an alacrity that is whiplash inducing.
As previously stated, I mentioned that the "Shiny And Oh So Bright" concert also conveyed a feeling that I could only describe as "cinematic." This specific and
essential quality to this production lays directly at the feet of
Linda Strawberry, longtime Pumpkins' associate who serves as the tour's Creative Director.
When I happened to see
The Flaming Lips one year ago, I marveled at how the visual extravagances of the s how were actually carefully designed elements to give each song of the night its own visual presentation. What Linda Strawberry has achieved for The Smashing Pumpkins is exactly the same, as her visuals, which run the gamut from animations, abstractions, and filmed segments, are all designed to essentially tell the story of the band and their history in an impressionistic fashion where the band members, the music and the images play off of each other to the point where they are inseparable. The results are stunning and often give the feeling of being lost inside of a Smashing Pumpkins dreamworld--sometimes soothing, sometimes troubling yet always providing a palpable emotional connection.
Strawberry is wise and artful enough to understand that not every moment need to be an overwhelming one and in fact, what worked the very best were the ones that were indeed the most elegant. Just seeing the lyrics on screen to
"Thirty-Three" was perfection. To have 2018 Corgan driving in the front seat while "1979" Corgan rides in the backseat, playfully illustrated the circular nature of time.
Yet for me, the greatest emotional connections I had was during the stretch of the show which began with
"For Martha," and continued with
"To Shelia," as Strawberry gave us what felt to be filmed dreams of what seemed to be Billy Corgan as represented by a small boy in a white suit and top hat interacting with his deceased Mother, as represented by a ballerina dancing around the stars and the moon before ascending her own stairway to heaven, where she is eventually joined by other female spirits in an eternal dance.
From here, the stage goes dark once again, the sounds of Schroeder's guitar echoing throughout the arena. At this point, I had already been stirred by the music and the images but what arrived next was the blissful marriage of all of the show's components. In the dark, center stage, there stood Billy Corgan and James Iha, facing each other and slowly beginning the guitar opening of the achingly beautiful ballad
"Mayonaise," and tears began welling up in my eyes regarding these two men re-connecting on their co-composition as if they were still kids with guitars in a bedroom.
As the full band arrived and the stage lights went upwards again, on cue, was Strawberry astounding image of some maiden, and inexplicably I began to cry for the level of deliverance was flawless as we flowed from epic to intimate to epic all over again, all the while never losing the emotional core.
I have no idea of how she kept all of the conceptual threads straight as we see influences as disparate as Victorian, Art Deco, German expressionism, vaudevillian (with special guest
Mark McGrath's filmed interludes), futuristic, apocalyptic, pastoral, and even more. Yet, Linda Strawberry more than achieved what I am certain felt to be impossible and she handled every moment with a cultivated sophistication that elevated the entire production.
Finally, I turn my attention to Billy Corgan, who exceedingly deserves more credit and praise than he is certain to receive for this production due to the continuously unfair media perceptions of him rather than focusing on what is actually occurring on stage. No, Billy Corgan does not need the likes of myself to defend him but I do wish to add my voice into this social media stratosphere as an offering of congratulations and support.
For all of the ink, both real and virtual, spilled over the level of Corgan's supposed megalomania, I find it odd that people are still unable (or just plain unwilling) to see that he is indeed playing a
character and this show is a work of theater. Of course, Corgan is playing the next phase of the character we once knew as "Zero" and then transformed into "Glass," and in doing so, we have a performance that harkens back to the rock and roll fantasies and personas of the 1970's, something that truly did not exist during the alt-rock 1990's, a quality that kept The Smashing Pumpkins out of step with their peers and therefore, placed into a musical universe of their own making. An environment I would think they would be happiest because there is no one else like them!
With that, and regardless of the supposed level of his ego, there is no conceivable way to question or debate the level of commitment Billy Corgan brought to that stage, as a songwriter, as a singer (that high note he hit during "Space Oddity"--I never knew he had it in him), as a superior guitarist, as a pianist, as an overall showman. No, he did not say terribly much this night (much of the banter was left to Iha) but with all of the costume changes and vocal demands upon him, I am not surprised.
Yet, it seemed as if he wanted to be there and was enjoying himself, being among the members of his rock and roll family in celebration and communion. And to conclude the show with the grace note that was
"Baby Mine" from
"Dumbo," was a move of such tenderness and humor (honestly, if one could not see that he was poking fun at himself with his bizarre Ringmaster get-up for the encore, then blindness is apparent) that I exited this experience with full elation and a want for nothing more for he and the band gave absolutely everything they had.
What more could I ask for?
Certainly there are drawbacks to watching the entire show upon live streaming instead of being in the actual arena--and that is, you are not in the actual arena seeing absolutely everything unfolding at the same time. Yes, at home, I could not see all of Linda Strawberry's work, for instance. But, at home I could see the band at a proximity that I would never have been able to regard them had I been in the arena. And even so, alongside with those who were in person, I, plus the rest of
1.3 million viewers at home had the chance to experience the show together at the same time, something that carries its own excitement and I am so thankful that I was able to experience it at all.
The Smashing Pumpkins' "Shiny And Oh So Bright" concert was a night of rock opera at its finest, as it provided a full testament to the legacy and future of one of rock and roll's most idiosyncratic bands performing at the full height of their collective powers and artistry.
I guess Twitter was good for something after all, huh?
